As if recovery wasn’t already difficult enough from a mental standpoint, there are often physical discomforts too!
This blog post is about stomach in Anorexia recovery. Reading this blog post will not make your tummy feel better, but it may provide you with some knowledge that will make you feel in the know about what you are experiencing.
First off, through, remember that you are unique. You may experience some or none of the things I will describe in this post. That says nothing about your recovery progress. Second, you have to understand that stomach problems are very normal. In fact, in a study looking into the number of people in eating disorder recovery who get some sort of tummy complaint it was found that around 98% do.
Most of the time our tummy woes are to do with the process of re-establishing the optimal functioning of the stomach after it has had a long stint of sub-par operations. First of all, lets take a look at some of the things that take place when we go into a state of malnutrition, as these may help you understand why coming out of a state of malnutrition is a big deal.
When you go into prolonged energy deficit:
Metabolic rate decreases
As body weight falls and intake falls, the body reduces metabolic rate in order to run more efficiently. This includes slowing of the movement of food through the stomach or delaying gastric emptying.
Peristalsis is the movement of food along the intestinal tract and it is done by the muscles that surround the whole gastrointestinal tract. The rate of peristalsis is controlled by the stretch of the stomach when food is eaten (so pressure) and hormonal secretions that happen in response to eating food. When you are starving, this movement slows down in order to preserve energy. Makes sense really. If the production line of food going through your body is low, you don’t need a conveyor belt that is running at the rate of knots.
Delayed gastric emptying (gastroparesis) is when the stomach empties slower than normal. This means that you can feel full for ages after eating. It is an annoyance when you are trying to eat a lot of food and you feel physically full all the time. But it won’t stay like that forever. You have to train the system back up by continually putting pressure on it to function faster by increasing your demand for its services — yes, by eating more!
Endocrine responses to energy deficit can occur (such as decreased thyroid hormones, insulin, testosterone and leptin; and increased levels of cortisol and ghrelin) resulting in decreased thermogenesis and overall metabolic rate. Low energy intake and minimal body fat are perceived as indicators of energy unavailability — your body assumes that there is no food in the environment — resulting in a homeostatic endocrine response aimed at conserving energy and promoting energy intake. This, as you can imagine, has a number of implications for the optimum functioning of the body.
Energy reallocates
The body starts to allocate energy only to areas that are vital. Energy is allocated to muscles and organs depending on how important they are to survival rather than optimal functioning. This is like if you get a wage cut, you are going to stop spending as much money on luxury items and allocate everything that you have to necessities. If the decrease in wages continues to be less than you need to spend each month, you will gradually cut back more and more. Things will get pretty desperate.
Mental energy gets allocated away from more interesting things such as work, people, sex, hobbies, reading etc and instead is put towards thinking about food, as your brain assumes that your decrease in intake is due to you forgetting to forage well enough, or not enough food so you need to look for more. You will notice that you are thinking of food all the time and unable to hold much interest in other things. This is your body trying to motivate you to search for and consume food — this makes not being able to eat even more painful. The constant, looping, thoughts around food as also exhausting and repetitive enough to make you think you are going mad.
In some of us, when we go into energy deficit, we actually feel like we have more disposable energy. We don’t. That is what I think of as the “migratory effect” of starvation. In animals that migrate, they do so when the resources in the environment become scarce. This tells them to move on to pastures new, and they do. I have always thought that my proclivity to movement was generated by the energy deficit. It is not that I really had more energy, it was that my brain thought it important enough that I move and find more food. Of course I didn’t do that. I moved to the freaking gym instead.
Sadly, even if you feel like you have energy in your legs, and you feel like you should use it, doing so comes at a cost. Just because you feel like you want to move doesn’t mean you have excess energy at all. Spending that energy in the gym or out running means that you are effectively wasting it, as it could have been used elsewhere. If you are in energy deficit, all energy is precious, and burning it off in the gym comes at the cost of some other part of your body that is lacking in resources. Don’t be fooled into thinking that you can go running, even if you want to.
What happens when you start eating more?
One thing to look out for if you are very malnourished is refeeding syndrome — shifts in fluid and electrolytes due to moving from a catabolic state to an anabolic state when you start eating food again. This can happen if your intake or weight was very low before you started to eat again. This is what (rarely, but we still have to pay attention to it) happens when a person goes from a very malnourished state to eating more. If the body immediately starts to make more energy as you eat more food and doesn’t have the nutrients required to meet the demand of processing more energy, you can get in trouble. If you are eating a very low amount of food, or at a very low weight, work with a professional for blood and intake monitoring in the first couple of days to make sure this is not a factor.
Aside from refeeding syndrome the negative consequences of eating more are generally superficial. In that, they feel crappy, but are not damaging as such. Quite the opposite really.
In this initial stage it is very important that you rest as much as possible.
Water weight
In this initial period, many of us notice this very uncomfortable gaining of water. This is your body trying to achieve rehydration. It can happen really suddenly too! If you gain a lot of weight initially, it is usually just water. The body can hold onto water in a way that it cannot hold onto food. Of course your disordered thoughts will tell you that you are broken and that you have suddenly overnight got fat. You haven’t. It would be impossible for you to gain several pounds of bodyweight in a day.
Bottom line: if you “blow up” initially in refeeding don’t get too excited. It is likely just water.
Stomach problems in Anorexia recovery
Why does your stomach hurt? Lots of reasons why it has every right to!
- Your stomach and intestines have not been given any maintenance or repair work due to lack of funding (food). Before this system is going to work well again, repairs will have to be undertaken. I experienced a lot of “growing pains” in recovery, and general discomfort. Delayed gastric emptying means that you have the sense of food sitting in the stomach a long time after eating. This can make you feel overly full, bloated, and yuk.
- Inadequate intake leads to the slowing down of the emptying of the stomach etc, so initially increases on intake can lead to nausea, cramps, constipation etc. You need to keep pushing food along that conveyer belt so that it knows to speed up again. This can be uncomfortable for sure, but keep eating.
- Low volume of food over time leads to shrinking of the stomach. When you start to eat again, you will be uncomfortably full until this rights itself and your stomach expands. Again, we need to train the system back up. Keep eating!
- Common physical effects include: gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, acid reflux, frequent bowl movements, ingestion. None of these things are particularly sexy, and all of them are somewhat embarrassing. They are all also very normal, and to be expected in Anorexia recovery. Constipation is very common until your rate of stomach processing gets up to speed, and can be uncomfortable.
- Restriction leads to a reduction in gut bacteria and a culling of all apart from the die-hard terminator-like bacteria who can survive on practically nothing. Podcast on this here. So when you start eating again, the lack of diversity in your gut may be responsible for the bloating, gas, etc. The important thing to note here, is that you have to keep eating in order for the diversity in your gut to re-establish.
- When you have been eating limited types of foods, your stomach will be out of practice for processing them. Practice makes perfect — eat!
- If you have Anorexia, eating more food creates anxiety initially. Anxiety places you in your sympathetic nervous system which is the fight or flight one. We were not designed to digest food well while in the sympathetic nervous system. Over time you will start to feel less anxiety about eating, and your digestion can improve because you start eating from you parasympathetic nervous system (the rest and digest one) instead. Some digestion problems can also be put down to sub-optimal digestion due to being in fight or flight rather than rest and digest mode.
IBS/Temporary food intolerances
You may get IBS symptoms if you start eating more food. You can even gave temporary food intolerances but this is only due to the fact that you have not been eating enough of these foods for your body to build up a resistance to them. I think that this may also have something to do with the lack of diversity of bugs in your gut that is a result of restriction. Whatever you do — and I don’t care how many “health gurus” tell you that you should abstain from eating certain types of food — don’t stop eating these foods! Think of it as a case of needing to keep practicing in order to get your digestive system up to scratch. Oh course if you have celiac disease, or something like that, then that is different. Most of us don’t.
I know a number of people who have become concerned in the refeeding stage and been tested for food intolerances. One of the worst things that you can do for yourself mentally is be given a list of foods that you should avoid eating. I had some very bad cramping and some very concerning loud gurgling when I was in recovery..I showed all the signs of gluten intolerance when I started eating bread in higher quantities. I kind of knew deep down this was due to me starting to eat more, and that my system wasn’t used to it, but I still had a wealth of gluten-free advocating friends telling me that I needed to cut out gluten. It was suggested to me by many people that I should look into cutting gluten out of my diet (That was when gluten-free was at the peak of fashion and the cure-all for everything).
I had a stint with being gluten free, and my eating disorder was all over that! When I came to my senses 6 months or so later, and started eating gluten again, yes, the IBS symptoms kicked off. However, after a month or so it got better. I am so very happy about this, because gluten is delicious in all forms. I eat a lot of bread, bagels, bakery items. These foods make me happy. They were well worth the temporary gas and bloating.
I think that patience is key here. In my case, my body had suffered 12 years of intense restriction and over exercise. It was going to take more than a month or so of eating well for it to get over that.
Hunger
As you start to eat more, you can full full to the point of bursting one minute, and empty and hungry the other. This happens as the system tries to reccaliberate itself to your new increased intake. It is mostly to do with your endocrine system and the hormones that regulate feelings of hunger tuning up.
While this system tunes up, you will spend a lot of time having to eat when you are not hungry, or when you feel feel. This all feels just … wrong. It will feel “wrong” for a while. In a way, it has to feel wrong in order for your system to change. Regardless of how wrong it feels, eating is always right.
There is no normal here. Some of us go into periods of extreme hunger. Some of us continue to feel full throughout the entire refeeding process. In my experience if you are not feeling any hunger at all, you need to up your intake. Some people start to feel fullness again on higher intakes, and feel full even before they are due to eat. There is no norm here, it can all happen. The body is an organism. The only blanket statement is that you have to eat regardless of your hunger. And that there is no harm in eating more and seeing what happens.
Don’t count on hunger cues to suddenly start making sense when weight restoration is reached. Especially if you have been restricting food while weight restoring, you will have mental hunger due to that deprivation present.
Weight gain
Weight gain will complicate your mental processes and cause you to want to go back to restriction — fear of weight gain is an inappropriate response that is generated by Anorexia. Be ready for it, and commit to eating regardless of how you feel about it.
Weight initially gathers around the vital organs. I have a whole blog post dedicated to this process of accumulation and redistribution here.
After weight restoration is achieved, the physical restoration still may not be complete. Hence, many of us continue to need a high intake after weight restoration. Metabolic rate can stay really high in this time. This is another reason why it is foolhardy to compared a weight restored person in recovery from Anorexia to a member of the general public when setting caloric intake requirements.
What do you do?
- Continue to eat at regular intervals regardless of how awkward it feels. We have to train this system up!
- Give it foods that are easy for it to process = high in fat!
- Drink adequate amounts of water and fluids, just enough but not too much.
- Rest. There is so much going on here. Take recovery seriously. This is a huge restoration project for your body!
- Increase intake of fats as these can help with bowl movement regularity.
- Breathing practices before and after eating to help you reduce anxiety and stay in the parasympathetic nervous system.
- Buy loose comfortable clothing and throw out any “small” clothes. Not food related directly, but it is cathartic!
- Did I mention that you have to continue to eat? You do.
Sources
THE ENDOCRINOPATHIES OF ANOREXIA NERVOSA https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3278909/
Zipfel S, Sammet I, Rapps N, Herzog W, Herpertz S, Martens U. Gastrointestinal disturbances in eating disorders: clinical and neurobiological aspects. Auton Neurosci 2006;129:99–106.
Avoiding medical complications in refeeding from Anorexia Sachs K, Andersen D, Sommer J, Winkelman A, Mehler PS. Eat Disord. 2015; 23(5):411-21. Epub 2015 Mar 9.
Benini L, Todesco T, Dalle Grave R, Deiorio F, Salandini L, Vantini I. Gastric emptying in patients with restricting and binge/purging subtypes of anorexia nervosa. Am J Gastroenterol 2004;99:1448–1454.
Soul S, Dekker A, Watson C. Acute gastric dilatation with infarction and perforation. Report of fatal outcome in patient with anorexia nervosa. Gut 1981;22:978–983.
Dubois A, Gross HA, Ebert MH, Castell DO. Altered gastric emptying and secretion in primary anorexia nervosa. Gastroenterology 1979;77:319–323.
Great blog Tabitha, I love understanding the science behind eating disorders. My stomach seems to have taken on a life of its own these days, It feels like I am pregnant with a food baby and as for the noises it makes well it’s like there is a small orchestra playing inside my stomach! It is really hard to keep eating when you feel so bloated but I just keep telling myself food is medicine and to get on with it! Thanks for all your sensible advice.
Hi Tabitha, how does eating more fat help increase bowel movements? I thought eating more fiber rich foods, which tend to be low in fat, would help w/ constipation. I can relate to so much of what you say in this post. It is always helpful to know why, physiologically, things are happening. Thanks! Any advice for what I can say to myself to make me keep eating when I don’t feel like it. As you say the fear of weight gain is something with which I struggle BIG TIME. I want to get better and not be consumed with Anorexic thoughts, but I HATE/DETEST the feeling of being so full–all the discomfort that comes with eating more makes me want to crawl out of my skin and/or rip my stomach out. Sometimes I wish I could never have to eat again, but I know that is not possible without death. I guess that shows just how f’ed up anorexia is!
Hi Amanda. Eating high in fat foods is like a double win because it is easier on the gut and you get more bang for your buck in terms of nutrient density. I found due to the high caloric intake I needed in order to recover, I had to go for nutrient density more, so more things like cheese, whole milk, peanut butter straight from the jar all helped me get my intake up even when I felt so full
Hi there. For the first six months of recovery I was on a roll! I was very lucky that gaining weight isn’t an issue for me (I’m lucky mentally) the only reason I had problems with eating was because I got into the habit of not eating much to deal with my emotions. Therefore, I found recovery ok. However 5 months into recovery I started to develop really unfortunate gastro problems, such as persistent acid reflux and also now have Gastroparesis. I’m just confused how it took 5 months for this discomfort to come on me after already being on a surplus for that length of time? For the first 5 months I was grand. Now I am in so much pain and stomach is literally leaking Into my food pipe after a handful of cereal and my reflux is constant. These symptoms are taking over my life and I’m just anxious that these will last for the rest of my life? Is there any Hope my gastro problems And constant acid reflux etc will get better? I’m 20 and feel like my life has been taken from me because I literally cannot do anything socially. However to deal with gastroparesis, delayed stomach emptying a diet low in fibre and low in fat has been recommended by my doctor. I really hope that these problems aren’t with me for life – I’m just exhausted 🙁 if anyone has any guidance or advice please let me know xx
Hi, thank you for the article really needed it now. I am wondering if it is normal to still have stomach problems, even after being weight restored a year later. I still have constipation and bloating still, lack of hunger cues and fullness cues. I have also done
other tests to rule out other causes. How long do the stomach issues last? .
Hi Sandra
Yes, I have heard of people having tummy problems years into recovery. I did myself!
What to do about that?
My symptoms didn’t start until 6 months into recovery. I started my recovery in June and was on a surplus etc eating a lot of the most delicious foods again! I was lucky that my mentally of gaining weight isn’t an issue for me! However it got to the end of October and I have started experiencing all these wild gastro problems! I have been diagnosed with gastroparesis and also have GERD and acid reflux and have been told to follow a low fibre and low fat diet! I find it very hard to even keep water down that’s how bursting my belly gets! These symptoms caused me to lose a bit of weight again which is so heartbreaking for me. However my body literally bursts even when it’s just water and it’s hard for my body to even keep it down without exploding! I’m trying my best to eat but my body definitely isn’t getting enough that it needs. I’ve just been mainly snacking on cereal and bread etc. It’s like my stomach can’t stomach anything without bloating like a balloon or acid reflux coming up! I really really hope this will blow over for me and won’t be a way of life forever ?? I’m 20 years old and it’s taken over my life, I can only regret having my ED because the damage I have done. Any advice would be highly appreciated xxx
Hi Lelia, I can completely relate to the inability to even fit liquid in because of bloating. For me it’s food or drink but definitely not both! ☹️ I too rarely feel hungry and, because I’m 59 , I’m worried that my stomach is too old to learn how to ever digest again properly! (I’ve never been anorexic but am definitely underweight )
What is your advice please Tabitha (and is your book still available please?) ?
Hi Lelia,
How are you doing now? I have exactly the same experience. I started recovery in june and now in march I’m feeling a lot of nausea before and after a meal. It makes me really anxious, because I have a fear for vomiting. I’m hoping it is a part of recovery, but I thing it’s rather late to have this kinds of stomach problems. I’m curious how you are doing right now. Hope your doing better and I look forward hearing from you.
Kind regards,
Eva
Hello, I was wondering if you’re feeling any better now; I am now weight restored as well for some time and wonder if the stomach discomfort ever goes away. Thank you!
Hi,thanks for the reply. I have been weight restored for 3 years now, but sadly the stomach discomfort is still the same. Hasn’t gone.
Hi Tabitha,
Great post. Do you think it is wise to use laxatives as prescribed dosage fir the constipation during refeeding and weight restoration or is it better to try and kept the body work this one out. I have found it to be a huge problem in terms of making me feel even more full alongside delayed gastric emptying. Want to avoid triggers as much as possible but physical sensations are hard to ignore. X
Hi K. Are you also prescribed laxatives by your GP. I’ve been given osmotic laxatives to take daily but I don’t find they make !ych difference.
If anything it’s probably making my anxiety worse as nothings really changing room taking them. I’ve been on them now for 3 months so thought I’d see a difference by now.
How are you doing with yours. Maybe deep down nothings changing as I keep staying in he same weight zone which obviously isn’t enough for my body to function xxx
Hi, I eat 7 prunes a day snd no more constipation…Jill
Hi Tabitha
Your blog is amazing and I can not tell you how much I will use this at times ( which is alot at the moment..) that I will use this website when things are getting really hard. It’s definitely the symptoms atm that are making this harder to keep moving forward
Constipation being the worse. For me it’s about getting rid of food I have eaten to allow me to eat again. I have really bad noises in my stomach as well like I have a wish washed in there swirling all the water around!!! Have you ever witnessed that? I’m on borderline healthy of my weight but still appear to exercise and eat to restrict me from going above this weight
I have put on weight over the last 4 months bit am scared to gain any further as I feel if anything tjijgs are becoming work. I feel lethargic, bloated. Skin is getting worse I still have no periods and I’m worried they will never return at the age of 30. I want children and need to carry on xx
I’ve been in anorexia recovery/(mostly) weight restored for nearly four years now, but I still get a lot of stomach problems. Usually it’s when I eat slightly more than normal, but not more than a normal person would. Obviously, this makes it really hard for me because I feel like my body is telling me I’ve eaten “too much” (even though I know normal people eat more than me). I have no idea how to make the pain stop and have had it so bad that I’ve passed out. Thanks!
Wow,
This makes sense.
I’ve had ibs for 20 years, then anorexia hit.
So recovery is “hell”
Thanks, you’ve put some reason behind my chronic bloating…. 3 days average. Agony
Thanks again xxx
I have a question my girlfriend is suffering from anorecia and i been helping her and pushing her to get better and she is. What i want to know is that since she has been recovering she had more pain in the stomach amd back area, right now she has kidny damage , she gets dizzy, confused, depressed, i want to know why she has those horrible pains …. please get to me as fast as possible i want to help her
If you have any medical concerns you should always go see a Doctor.
Well done for helping her so far!
Refeeding syndrome?
Hi. Do you think low iron can decrease recovery? I don’t feel like i have a brain.
Malnutrition will do that. If you eat well enough and nutritionally rehabilitate, iron levels should naturally return to normal. Mine took about a year to return to normal
Just learned my daughter who has problems with depression and anxiety now has anorexia. Your blog was very helpful to me as a mom. Do you recommend seeing a dietician who works with anorexia? Would healthy liquids such as Ensure help to begin to stretch the stomach or be used as a supplement? What type of foods should she start eating at first?
I have to admit, I think that a really good, eating disorder expert RDN can be very helpfu.
Re reading this and finding it even more helpful than it already was! Seriously all you do is on point, never gets old, always useful no matter how often it is read/heard…. Thank you for being such a badass ED warrior and for helping so many of us!
My doctor and RD both have suggested my digestive problems are IBS. I went through weird eating and binging stunts over fall and having painful stomach problems, now trying to eat again and keep feeling bloated. Thank you I found this so helpful!
This was very informative! I do not know if I have anorexia or not, but in the last few months I have been avoiding food due to anxiety/loss of appetite and I’m starting to try and eat again. I’m having bloating, mild nausea, feelings of constipation, etc. I was wondering if maybe drinking black coffee since it’s a natural stimulant could help with some of the process of easing my belly back into eating. Thank you in advance for your reply!
Can I exercise when weight restored but have bad IBS?(also messed up hunger cues)
Thank you for the post. I have recently increased my intake of carbohydrates which makes me feel like a balloon all day and night…difficult to sleep because of the sensation of pressure and to keep training myself to eat more to be healthier. Hopefully I will keep maintaining this healthier diet and my stomach will feel less uncomfortable….
Hiya i just have a bit of a delayed question.. so i have had a ed for 3 years now , i was restricting for about 1 and a half o these agonising years. I am now suffering the unpredictable consequences of digestive issues specifically gas and bloating not emptying properly and fullness alongside with lack of appetite. I have now diversified my food could this be why i am particularly sttuggling now? What could i do to eliviate these inconveniences my body image is really bad as i am constently bloated , and i am just feeling awful as a result i am restricting but i am afraid to eat more bc it looks like ive gained weight already. I am currently taking activated charcoal tablets is this okay? Its kind of working so far hiwever im concerned they’re unsafe. How could i improve my systoms what kind of food do you suggest for me to eat ? Any kind of responce would be greatly appricated thank you smm! X
My 15 year-old daughter was diagnosed with anorexia in October. She has been eating three meals and two snacks since for almost three months, but still has issues with nausea and feeling extremely full after meals. How long can it take for the discomfort to go away and for digestion to get back to normal?
Hi Tabitha. I almost recovered 2 years ago and my digestion was fine and everything was Okay and then out of nowhere i began to be intolerant to lactose and experienced IBS and due to my IBS I started to lose weight and had a mini relapse. So do you think these digestion problems are temporary and if I continue eating more they will go away?. Also should I prevent lactose from my diet due to the intolerance or keep eating it without the lactase enzyme in order to start tolerating it again?
Hi
I’ve been in recovery for 5 years and my eating pattern is better but still not a 100% I went through all the pain and getting my system to digest food properly. I had an issue with dairy and wondering if anyone else had the same issue? I was given a diagnoses of restricted anorexia so I basically stopped eating anything.
I’d allow myself a bag of crisps on occasion.
Dairy would definitely help with weight gain but I get serious stomach cramps and other nasty side effects so I have completely cut dairy out of my diet. Do you think it would be worth trying it to see if I can retrain my stomach to except it?
I’ve only just found your blog and wish I’d known about it before.
Kind regards
Caroline
Hi great page by the way!
I don’t suffer from an ED but a stomach bug past few months rewlly messed me up and now I’ve been anxious around food. Having loss of apetite, no hunger cues and not eating regular has been rewlly hard especially when prior to viral gastroenteritis I never had these problems before and I’m now experiencing all the symptoms mentioned above. Wondering if it wil get better/return back to normal? Praying it does
I became medically induced anorexia from a beta blocker and which is not text book possible so doctors are hesitant but the pattern is consistent with the symptoms. I was anorexic for three months and begged for help by physicians and specialists but no one in my area would/could help and they threw their arms up in the air. I got so weak that I lost my ability to walk and even sit up at times because it flared up my POTS. I was blessed enough with meeting one specialist in St. Louis Missouri who has saved my life so to speak. Your article was exactly what I needed to read as I try to Google and was unable to find why my anxiety was so high in my first couple days of recovery. I am still trying to find A number of how much ounces of water we have to drink minimum a day to survive- like many others, my stomach shrunk so I cannot consume the expected 64 ounces daily but I know I need to drink at least a minimum of something to avoid dehydration. Between the months of September and end of January and I lost 24 pounds and not by choice. Anorexic facilities would not take me because I lost my ability to walk and couldn’t monitor my heart rate which is important for people with POTS. No hospital locally would put me inpatient until I reach 98 pounds which is crazy to think since I am a very tall woman at 5‘8“. I’m A special case since we suspect MCAS so the food that I need to consume is allergy tested first then added to my recovery diet plan. At this time my immune system is at zero so it is crucial that I avoid any infection or illness which is hard to do during this flu season but I have kept myself homebound. In the early stages of all this my blood was checked and was believed to been suffering from mold toxicity and have since detoxed from it. So from detoxing from the mold and now starting my recovery from a beta blocker that caused medically induced anorexia, I am finally on the right path to recovery. I would just encourage others to get their blood work checked frequently as it definitely can help guide you in staying well balanced overall.
Hello ive been struggling anorexia for 8 years at least. Ive been getting a constant complaining in my stomach and what feels like acid as soon as i try to eat a full meal recently. Now also in chamge of circumstances within the last month i moved abroad to live with my fiance who is helping me to recover hence im eating different foods and maybe eating bit more than i would before so im wondering if this is normal at all or any advice as i so bqdly want to be able to eat normally like everyone else. God bless and thank you for the post it was interesting to read
I’m late to this post, but just thought I’d offer some perspective and a caveat to the “just keep pushing food along the conveyor belt” perspective – proceed with caution if you have (or suspect you might have) SIBO, IBS, or chronic constipation that lasts more than a month or two.
I tried not to fret about food, listen to my emotional hunger, etc., and just tolerate the distended abdomen and pain that came with it for years afterwards. I went to gastroenterology specialists, and they just prescribed some laxatives to help me deal with slow intestinal motility, but unfortunately, after over a year of recovery, I developed tolerance to prescription laxatives, and my intestines remained blocked. Finally, so much undigested food accumulated in my large intestine that it flipped over itself, causing a cecal volvulus, a condition with a 40% mortality rate. (https://www.healthline.com/health/cecal-volvulus#:~:text=When%20left%20untreated%2C%20cecal%20volvulus,of%20up%20to%2040%20percent%20.) Even in the ER, doctors told me things like “maybe you aren’t eating enough” or “maybe you aren’t eating enough fiber” or “maybe you aren’t drinking enough water,” or suggested it was all in my head and that my mind was just rejecting food because I wanted to lose weight.
This was complete and utter bullshit. Thankfully, I screamed loudly enough on my second trip to the ER that they had no choice but to operate on me and then prescribe a very specific diet designed to promote the growth of good bacteria and quash bad bacteria. This diet included minimizing carbohydrates and eating small amounts of cooked food only. Was the diet triggering to someone with a history of orthorexia? Yes. Was it better than walking around with a soccer ball belly and risk for another emergency operation? Absolutely.
I would strongly urge anyone suffering from extreme chronic digestive distress to *not* reduce it to “this is my eating disorder talking,” ad “bloating is natural” theories. If you are no kidding in lots of pain, pause the “keep eating, it will get better” approach and bother your doctor until he listens to you.
This sounds way too interesting, Mia! May you please share some more details on what you had as a food intake?
Hi Tabitha,
I’ve had an ED for years and am in the early stages of trying to recover fully. I’ve tried a few times before but fallen flat in my face, but really determined to keep going.
I’m doing my best to honour my physical and mental hunger, which has resulted in a LOT of the things you’ve mentioned on this blog post. I’m doing reasonably well with sitting in the discomfort of most of the symptoms, but the one that keeps tripping me up is acid reflux especially at night.
I have found going to bed bloated after eating later (in response to my hunger) leads to a lot of reflux and means I barely sleep. I have tried eating more consistently during the day so I don’t feel hungry at night but I still end up thinking a lot about food. I’ve also tried having a huge dinner so I don’t need to eat later on, but I still get reflux from the evening meal. A couple of times it’s been so bad I’ve ended up being physically sick (not self-induced).
I take anti acids and have tried peppermint tea, peppermint oil, hot water bottles etc.
It’s just hard because I want to honour my body and its hunger signals but it also seems like I might be misinterpreting them because surely it wouldn’t ask for things that make me feel (and actually result in being physically) sick?
Sorry this is so long, I’m just pretty desperate of many nights of little sleep.
Thank you for all you do x
Hi all. Alex here, from bulgaria, 35y. Old male sending greetings to all of you.
I hope I won’t bargain any of you if I place a couple of my questions here. Here it goes: I’ve been in recovery for 2mo now, off and on a pound but mostly ON MY OWN! Which can be kind of a deal to struggle with. My question is to what level of fullness in the stomach should we have our meals and snacks? As well as is it ok not to be counting kcal and still feeling dizzy sometimes throughout the day even if you have had foods that should have had you up and running for quite a long of a time. Last but not least, having about 500-700kcal at dinner and still being dizzy before bed, what is this like ?
Once again thank you for the huge support here and keep smiling at one another
Interesting. I’ve been working on recovery for months now, and I’ve been noticing more stomach pains and gurgling…basically making me believe I am acting up against certain foods i.e. my casein protein powder, dairy in general, gluten. For all I know it could be that, but it’s kind of comforting to know that it could all be temporary! Cause baked goods are the bane of my existence ?
I think this blogpost has some really good info! But as someone currently in recovery, I am trying to figure out why I’m having stomach issues, and I clicked on this post to read. Although there was good information, it is incredibly triggering when you end just about every sentence with “keep eating” , “eat!” or other related phrases. Just for the future, please try to limit this!